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According to Yonhap News,
The 2012 World Conservation Council (WCC), co-hosted by the Ministry of Environment (MOE) and Jeju, completed its ten-day journey on September 15.
Jeju became the first province in the northeast Asia to host the WCC with attracting about 10,000 people, which is the largest number of participants among 22 WCCs, organized by the International Union for Conservation Nature (IUCN).
The IUCN adopted the Jeju Declaration calling for facilitating the green economy through solutions based on nature.
This year's WCC grabbed attention with the introduction of World Leaders Dialogues, a program designed to offer the future direction of environmental policy through discussions among world-renowned experts, global leaders and audiences.
In addition, various initiatives that reflect Korea's unique conditions were also adopted: developing the Korean government's green growth policy into the sustainable development strategy; establishing a network for bio-diversity between the Asian and Pacific regions. The adoption contributed to not only promoting Korea's environmental policy to the international community but having in-depth discussion on environment at a global level, the MOE said.
The 2012 WCC was a precious opportunity for Jeju to promote its unique natural environment to all around the world, which is likely to draw the central government's attention to and supports for several natural environment conservation projects, including restoration of Hanon Maar Crater, which require an astronomical amount of money.
"We identified the value of nature and tried to find solutions to tackle global challenges including climate change and food shortages with the help of nature, which is one of the greatest achievements of the 2012 WCC," said Minister of MOE Yu Yeong-suk.
Julia Marton-Lefevre, Secretary General of IUCN, highly praised the 2012 WCC, saying that "This year's WCC produced the most active discussion. We adopted 200 initiatives and discussed various environmental issues."